Potter's Surprise
by VIKEMON
Summary: Set just before Draco is due to return to school, he is part of a plan to kill Harry Potter. He goes through his feelings leading up to a certain death and realises how his feelings towards Harry have changed. One-shot, OOC, AU, H/D.


Potter's Surprise

**A/N:** _This is a one-shot, the prequel to my fic 'Surprise Me Potter'. I am dedicating this to '_bgreenwivy' _as I would not have thought to do a prequel if it wasn't for the review I received. Also, to everybody else who read and reviewed Surprise me Potter. I appreciated your comments and I loved every single review I received. Thank you so much. To all those who have not read it: .net/s/4685827/1/Surprise_Me_potter please give it a look over before or after reading this. This is AU, OOC and H/D fluff(ish), it is set in the summer before Draco's 7__th__ year at Hogwarts. _

The air was crisp and cool and daylight was starting to break through the gaps in clouds and the spaces between the trees. The birds had started singing but were muted by the sound of Draco's heavy breathing and the thud of his feet against the road. Memories and thoughts swirled through his head, they were messy and uncomfortable but that was just what his life was right now. In a world where you constantly have to pretend to be something you are not, it is nice to be able to think freely.

The atmosphere around him was soothing, the young man running along the road would appear calm and well balanced to anybody else. But Draco knew the truth. Only Draco knew the truth. That was what was vital, he needed to be able to convince those around him that he felt and thought the way that they did. He was on stage constantly. Acting as thought he would follow in his Father's footsteps, pretending he was the cold blooded killer that Voldemort wanted him to be. Yes, he would admit to anybody that he had given away information on Harry Potter. He had to. There was no other way to gain the Dark Lord's trust. But Draco had been persistent with his loyalties. He had come up with his plan almost on the spot. He had a month to work on it, and that was fine by him. He did not like to rush things.

As he ran, Draco allowed himself to mull over things in his head. His mind's eye stretched back to the day he had first met Harry Potter. Harry had been scornful and rejected Draco's friendship, and that had embarrassed and confused the young Slytherin boy. The really important events were the ones leading up to that fateful day when Harry Potter turned his back on the Malfoy heir. He had grown up to cruelty and violence, no love, nor caring from either of his parents. He had received curses and hexes and he had been shown only how to hurt in life. When he arrived at Hogwarts, he could see it. Harry was special, he was so full of the love and nurturing that Draco craved. There was nothing but goodness within him and Draco reached out to him that day, wanted to change who he was. He wanted to be in Harry's control instead of his Father's. Yes, Draco Malfoy had wanted to be good. He had willed to be put into Gryffindor, if only so Potter's attitude would rub off on him. Alas, the Sorting Hat only saw his Father in him that day.

Draco slowed down and eventually came to a halt; he bent over and tried desperately to get rid of the stitch that clung to his side. He looked at his arms, blue paths winding underneath his pale skin. The same bad blood inside that his Father had; his inherited poison. He would be the first to admit his sins, his wrong doings, everything that made him imperfect. He was rude, impatient, foul tempered, he was bitter and filled with a hatred even he did not understand. Worse of all he was spoilt, and when he did not get what he wanted terrible things happened. He did not get Harry's friendship as he wanted; he joined his Father in Voldemort's following. He received the dark mark, a permanent blemish – not only on his skin, but also on his soul. In some small way Draco had hated himself more and more with every year, and when he finally figured out why he realised it was too late.

He still thought the world of Harry all the way through his years at Hogwarts, he still saw only good in him and the fact that he himself had joined a force willing to break and destroy that goodness had almost killed Draco. The blond man slipped into a memory of his previous year at Hogwarts. Harry had found him lurking in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, they had a heated argument and the raven haired boy had used a strange sort of magic on him. It had burned lacerations into his skin. He remembered his cry, it was mostly in pain but there was some merciless pleasure in there. As he lay, bleeding out on to the floor, Draco had cried. Tears of joy as he finally felt some sort of repent for his wickedness. The sting of the cuts was bittersweet; Harry had hurt him so deeply and terribly that he had smiled into the hard cold floor and he had found peace and tranquillity in the scars on his back and chest. Harry was the biggest scar to be found on Draco, he was scorched deep into his soul and the bitterness of Harry's rejection was awful, but the thought of the Gryffindor's defeat was worse than anything, even death.

The young Malfoy had never been afraid to die. And yet now he was there, weeping on a small hill overlooking a tiny village near to his home. He didn't understand what was behind the sudden tears, but as he wiped his face he felt hopeless in the fact that he had been part in great evil for so long. It had tortured him, murdered him and he knew only one way to redeem himself. He had a great job to do on that very hill and he had to be in the right mind to do it, he pulled himself together. Out of his short's pocket he dug a small quill and a roll of parchment, on it he wrote the word's he had never truly imagined he'd get round to writing.

"_Dear Harry,_

_If my plan has worked, which I am sure it will have, you are safe right now. Do not be angry at me for stopping you fighting tonight, I did it for all the right reasons. You cannot play along with His games Harry, you will die. I am sure of it._

_You may not trust the words of a Slytherin, and I do not blame you in the slightest. However, I have not returned to Hogwarts this year and am therefore no longer a Slytherin. You must wait, go into hiding and do your Dark Arts training in PRIVATE. This is essential to your success. Gain the power you need then seek Voldemort yourself. You must take him by surprise, he is good at strategy but when put on the spot he is weak._

_The war you are about to meet with be ruthless and terrible. You will probably witness the death of loved ones, and it will be horrible. But remember that good things can come from the bad. Think fondly of a Phoenix when you need hope and strength to carry on. And please think on that I have every faith in you Harry Potter. _

_There is no easy way for me to disguise my actions tonight Harry. Voldemort thinks you are dead. I stole a hair from your head and I died posing as you. Call me a thief and a liar and a traitor, but let it never be said that I was on his side. Please, this is something I beg of you. _

_Promise on my grave that you will not weep for me; it will take a heart of iron to sink him. We need you to be strong Harry. Whatever you do, do not let me die in vain. Do not let my death be made a mockery by letting him defeat you. I would die over and over again for you, Harry James Potter. And it was an honour to walk into battle for you. _

_Take him by surprise. Trust nobody but yourself. Believe in yourself and you will stop him from destroying our world. I know we never saw eye to eye and I know I am an awful person Harry, but I ask you to forgive what has been said and done in the past. I ask that you believe in me now, that you know I am with you. That I will always be with you. _

_Thank you for letting me do something worthwhile with my life Harry, to give it for you has been a great deed for me and it has made me loathe myself less. I can only hope it has done the same for you, I do not want to die with you hating me forever._

_You will win this war Harry Potter, I promise. _

_Yours Eternally,_

_Draco Lucius Malfoy."_

There was so much more for Draco to say, yet he felt he had said enough. He could imagine Harry reading it and the surprise he would feel. He could imagine it giving Harry the strength to fight Voldemort and this brought a smile to Draco's lips. It was a rare occurrence that he smiled and after many months it felt good to do so, it felt right. One last smile for Potter.

Draco still had one more place to visit and then he would prepare himself at home. As he apparated into Hogsmeade he felt finally welcome. The castle was empty and the students were due to arrive tomorrow, it felt serene and Draco enjoyed soaking up the silence in the grounds and through the halls as he made his way the dungeons. He arrived at his bed surprisingly quickly and he lay on it for the last time. It was comfy and he could have gone to sleep, he had been up so early to finish off the potion and go for a run. He knew he would never see this place again, or see his friends. He felt sad, and he also felt alone. It seemed like Draco could not stop crying today, which was inevitable since it was the biggest day of his life. He took his wand from the waistband of his jeans and made a quick transformation spell, then stepped back to admire his handy work. It was not permanent, but Draco had learned that nothing in this life is permanent. It is what is real and appreciated that matters. He left the room and began the walk back into Hogsmeade; leaving behind and row of four poster beds smothered in the Slytherin house colours, all save one bed at the end, dripping in red and gold, a Gryffindor's bower. A small symbol of where the loyalties of Draco Malfoy lay.

His feet lead him off path and he had no idea why, he ended up at the painting of the Fat Lady, yet it was swung wide open. He stepped through and felt so at home in the red common room that he knew, he should have been here. It would have been home, things would have worked out different for a while. He followed his feet and ended up at the end of Harry Potter's bed, something told him it was so yet he could not be sure. He lay down and felt more at peace than he had in the dungeons. He breathed in Harry's scent, still there even after weeks of him being away. It was unfair that he never got to really tell the boy how he felt. A lot of things were unfair in Draco's life but that was how it was, and as he looked outside, over at the lake and the forest – he realised he was ready. Things may have been different for a while if he had been put in Gryffindor, but he would have inevitably died for Harry James Potter, no matter what house he had been put in.

Apparating back home was horrific, Draco was unfocused and his magical abilities were wavering due to the overload of emotions inside him, it was a good job he would not need magic this much tonight. He poured his fully brewed polyjuice potion into a vial attached to a chain which he then hung around his neck, keeping it safe. All he needed was a hair. He tidied his room and petted his owl good bye; he could sense that she knew he would be gone forever. It was in her eyes. She nipped his finger and he gave her a wry smile. "Go to Harry, he will appreciate you more than anybody here" His voice was soft and weak from the amount of sobs he had unattractively choked on.

As he headed down to the lounge he could hear Bellatrix's cackle, it made him sick to the stomach as he thought what could really have happened tonight. She applauded when Draco entered and laughed once more before hissing to the room of Voldemort's followers.

"Let us begin! I want things to go smoothly so no interruptions."

The blond heir watched her as he used Legilimency to tap into Harry's dream.

"Hello Potter" He voice was cold and childlike, with a mocking tone that made Draco want to curse her dead. "I'm afraid it's time for you to come to us, he has waited for too long and you have done nothing but prolong our preparations for battle. You will come. Tonight. Alone. In the heart of Epping Forest you will fight him, or we will come to you and it will not only be you that dies." She cut off and laughed once more before apparating out of the room. The rest of the occupants of Malfoy Manor did the same until there was only Draco left. He tugged his cloak around himself and followed suit, eventually.

Draco stood closest to the edge of the forest, this fit perfectly with his plan. He built a fire to keep him warm but he was panicky and he was angry. He was angry that he was never in Gryffindor and he was angry that he never got Harry's friendship yet he had put his life on the line for so long. Once he saw a wand cast light seeping through the trees these thoughts banished, he put out his fire and he waited, holding back the tears that threatened to give his game away. This was it, he would never tell Harry how he had felt.

In this moment Draco Malfoy realised that he felt more for Harry than he first imagined. He thought Harry was perfect, he admired the way the boy's hair would stick up so uniquely, the way his emerald eyes sparkled even when he was yelling at the Slytherin, the way he would laugh with his friends until his face turned a certain shade of pink and his smile stuck to his lips. Draco had indeed, longed for Harry Potter all his life. He had loved him and now he realised it, it killed him. He would never tell Harry how he felt, but how could he live with himself if he didn't? He quickly brought out his letter and quill.

"_P.s. Harry, I am quite in love with you...I need you to know that" _

The words were not enough but they would have to do, there was no other way for him to show Harry. He had no idea that he would soon be spilling everything out in an effortless manner that Harry would offer him so easily. He cast a shield behind him so the boy could not get past and readied himself.

Was he ready to let Harry Potter go forever? Of course not, there would never be a right time to rip himself away from the one he loved so dearly. Was he ready to die for Harry Potter? He had never wanted anything more in his life...

**A/N: **_So, was it worth me writing it after all? Did you enjoy it? Please let me know with a review. I love hearing from readers so please please please tell me what you think! If you haven't read Surprise Me Potter, go and read it to find out the events that follow this one shot. _


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